Resilient wheel.



R. H. BURGESS.

RESILIBNT WHEEL.

APPLIGATION FILED MAY 27, 1913.

1,131,468. Patented Mar.9,1915.

E. fiwess RICHARD H. BURGESS, 0F MULLIN, TEXAS.

RESILIEN'I WHEEL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 9, 191.5n

Application filed May 27, 1913. Serial No. 770,248.

Toall whom it may concern Be it known that I, RICHARD H. BURGESS,citizen of the United States, residing at Mullin, in the county of Millsand State of Texas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inResilient Wheels, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in resilientwheels and as its principal object aims to provide a device of thischaracter which may be cheaply manufactured, will be durable andetlicient in its action and may be readily applied to any vehiclerunning gear.

A further object is to construct a resilient wheel in which the hub isyieldably sus pended at the center of a relatively rigid tire or rim.

A still further object is the provision of aresilient wheel in which therim or tire is formed of relatively rigid steel so that while the hub,which is yieldably suspended in the center of the tire, may be free tomove for the purpose of absorbing shocks which are imparted to therunning gear, the tire will, nevertheless, be unyielding and will engagethe roadbed in the same manner as does an ordinary wheel tire.

The above and additional objects are accomplished by such means as areillustrated in the accompanying drawings, described in the followingspecification and then more particularly pointed out in the claims whichare appended hereto and form a part of this application.

With reference to the drawings, wherein I have illustrated the preferredembodiment of my invention as it is reduced to practice, and throughoutthe several views of which similar reference numerals designatecorresponding parts, Figure 1 is a side elevation of the wheel withparts broken away showing the various elements in operative assembledrelation. Fig. 2 is a section on the line 22 of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is aperspective View illustrating in detail the hub of the wheel.

Proceeding now to a description of the drawings and referringparticularly to Figs. 1 and 2, in which the invention is best illustrated as an entirety, the numeral 10 designates a metallic tire or rimwhich is relatively wide in its preferred embodiment and is constructedof relatively rigid steel. In the center of this tire 10 is yieldablysuspended a hub designated by the numeral 11. In suspending this hubthere are provided a number of helical springs 12 the inner terminals ofwhich are detachably connected to the hub and the outer terminals ofwhich are detachably connected to the tire 10. There are preferably fourof these spring members provided and when such a number is employed theyare quadrantly spaced and arranged with their longitudinal axesextending as radii of the tire.

As a means for protecting the springs 12 and also for holding the hub 11against transverse movement there have been provided four quadrantlyspaced pairs of radially extending guard-plates as at 13, 14:, 15 and16. As stated, these pairs of guardplates extend as radii of the wheeland are of such length that their inner ends terminate short of the tirecenter. To the inner terminals of these guard-plates is secured a pairof circular housing-plates 17 and 18. Upon reference to Fig. 2 it willbe seen that the individual plates of each pair of guardmembers arearranged to extend in parallel spaced relation to each other. In Fig. 2'

the individual plates of the pair 14 are designated by the numerals 19and 20. The inner terminals of these members are riveted or otherwisesecured as at 21 and 22, respectively, to the housing-plates l7 and 18.The outer terminals of the members 19 and 20 are bent at right angles toproduce attaching lugs as at 23 and 24:. These attaching lugs 23 and 24are centrally apertured, the apertures being adapted to register withthe members 19 and '20 are assembled so that a rivet or similarfastening device 25 may be inserted through the lugs and pass throughthe tire 10 for properly securing the outer terminals of the members 19and 20 to the tire. Each spring-member 12, is, as previ ouslv described,helical in conformation, its outer terminal being bent to produce a hook26 which is engageable over a transversely extending bolt 27 which ispositioned adjacent the outer terminals of the members 19 and 20. A boltsimilar to the bolt 27 is of course, provided for each pair of guardmembers and in the preferred embodiment of the invention these bolts areadjustable toward and awav from the center of the wheel by insertionthrough the series of registering a ertures 28. It will be apparent thatby adjusting the bolt 27 the tension of the springs may be varied inaccordance with the weight of the load carried by the wheel. I,

The inner terminals of the springs 12 are bent to produce hooks 29 whichare substantially similar to the hooks 26, These hooks 29 are engageablewith the attaching bails or wires 30 carried by the hook 11. In thepreferred embodiment shown in the drawings, four attaching bails 31, 32,33 and 3 t are employed, each being formed from a single length ofrelatively heavy wire. At four quadrantly spaced points in the hub areformed bores or openings as at 35, 36, 37 and 38, these openingscommunicating both with the periphery and with the two faces of the hub.It is thus possible to apply the diametrically opposed bail members 31and 32, so that their inner portions bear against one face of the hubwhile the inner portions of the bail members 33 and 34 bear against theopposite face of the hub. The purpose in arranging the bails in thismanner is to equalize the pull on the hub at the four points ofattachment of the springs so that the hub will be maintained in theplane of the rim 10.

The hub is provided with a grooved or channeled periphery so that theouter portions of the bails will be held against lateral shifting. Eachface of the hub is cored out, as indicated at 39, to produce a chamberin which the inner portions of the bails will be received so that theywill not contact with the inner end of the axle skein. An out- ,standingboss 40 is, of course, formed on each ,face of the hub as a result ofthe formation ,of the cored chamber 39. These members l0 are adapted tobear against the inner end of ,the axle skein in a well-known manner. Itis desirable at this point to direct attention to the fact that bvforming the boss 40 on each ,face of the hub it is possible to reversethe wheel as regards its relation to the axle of the vehicle.

In reduction to practice, it has been found that the form of thisinvention illustrated in the drawings, and referred to in the abovedescription as the preferred embodiment, is the most eflicient andpractical; yet realizing that the conditions concurrent with theadoption of this device will necessarily vary, it is desired toemphasize the fact that varione minor changes in details ofconstruction, proportion and arrangement of parts may be resorted to,when required, without sacrificing any of the advantages of thisinvention,

as defined in the appended claims.

' lVhat'I claim is 1. A resilient wheel including arim, ,spacedradiallyextending guard-plates arranged in pairs, an inwardly extendingapertured ear formed on the outer terminal 'or'guara plates beingadapted to mate, a

bolt extending through each pair of mating ears and passing through therim whereby the guard plates are secured at their outer terminals to therim, bolts extending transversely between the plates of each pair andadjustable longitudinally thereof, housing plates carried by the innerterminals of the guard-plates, a hub arranged between the housingplates, a plurality of helical springs spaced radially disposedguard-plates arranged in pairs, a single bolt for securing the terminalsof each pair of guard plates to the rim, annular housing plates carriedby the inner terminals of the guard-plates and arranged in parallelspaced relation to each other, a hub mounted between the plates,radially extending helical springs arranged each between one pair of,guardplates, bolts passing transversely through the guard-platesadjacent the outer terminals thereof and adjustable longitudinally withrespect to the guard plates, hooks formed on the outer terminals of thesprings, said hooks being detachably engageable with the bolts, saidhooks being adapted to be disengaged from the bolts without requiringthe removal of the bolts, a hub formed with a plurality of apertures,and flexible members passing through the apertures and forming bailsadapted to receive the lower terminals of the springs.

3. A resilient wheel including a rim, a hub, said hub being annular inshape and having a peripheral channel and having its faces cored toproduce annular recesses, bail receiving bores formed in the hub andeach opening at one terminal through the periphery of the hub and at itsother terminal through one of the recesses, and hail members eachextending through a pair of the bores, a portion of each bail beingdisposed in one of the recesses, a portion of each bail being disposedin the peripheral channel of the hub, and a plurality of helical springsfor yieldably suspending the hub in the rim, said springs beingdetachably secured at their outer terminals to the rim and having hooksat their inner terminals detachably engageable with the portions of thebails which lie in the peripheral channel of the hub.

4. A resilient wheel including a rim, a hub, said hub being annular inshape and having a channel formed in its periphery,

an annular recess formed in each face, and a plurality of ball receivingbores opening at their outer terminals through the chanarranged in thesame recess, and those bails which are adjacent having their positions,Which are disposed in a recess, located in the recesses of oppositefaces of the head.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

RICHARD H. BURGESS.

Witnesses J. B. APPLEWHITE, RUTH KIRKPATRICK.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C.

